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Boot exhibit honors fallen Texas soldiers

Chase Brown, 25, mourns over a pair of boots that bears his cousin's name, Shane Lee Goldman, of Orange. Goldman died in Iraq at age 19. Each pair of boots on display at the Victoria College represent a Texas soldier who died in the War in Iraq.
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  • BY JULIAN CAVAZOS - JCAVAZOS@VICAD.COM
  • Originally published November 10, 2009 at 7:09 p.m., updated November 10, 2009 at 10:25 p.m.

  • EXHIBIT HOURS

    The "Eyes Wide Open" boots display at the Victoria College Quad will be open until 3 p.m. Wednesday.

It almost felt like holy ground, as people walked past a garden of combat boots.

Each pair is tagged with a name of a Texas soldier who died in the Iraq war.

The memorial display of more than 400 pairs of boots rests on a lawn at Victoria College in honor of Veterans Day.

"I'm so glad they did something like this to honor those who have passed on," said Marina Sylva, a computer science major at Victoria College. "These military people didn't have to go out and serve or anything so we could have our freedom. This is a great thing they did."

The boots display is part of the "Eyes Wide Open" traveling exhibit by the American Friends Service Committee.

Each time a soldier dies, another pair is added to the collection, said Jennifer Ortiz-Garza, a VC psychology professor.

The more than 400 pairs of boots at Victoria College only represent fallen soldiers from Texas who died in Iraq.

Surrounding the exhibit are 50 flags flown during the Warriors Weekend that occurred in May. Each flag is set 13 inches from the concrete in honor of the victory of the Revolutionary War.

On the south side of the display, seven flags each have a name of a soldier who died from the Crossroads area.

Near the north end, 13 additional flags posted in a circle represent the 13 people who died in Fort Hood last week.

As Chase Brown walked past each row, he found a pair with his cousin's name on it - Lance Cpl. Shane Lee Goldman.

He knelt down next to the boots, and cried as he thought of when Goldman told him he was joining the Marines while at a family reunion.

"I was asking him how he could do that, and that he could die," Brown said of his cousin, who died at 19. "I couldn't imagine being able to be that strong. And even at that young of age, he said if he did die, he would be dying for something he believed in."

As Annette Valle walked past each pair of boots, she thinks not only of the soldiers, but also their families, and how they cope with having a loved one die while in battle.

"The families. All the birthdays, the Christmases, the weddings, the births that they won't get to share," said Valle, whose brother passed away while stationed in Italy. "The war's just stupid. There has to be another way to settle this."


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